Custom Photo Coasters

These are my grandsons!

It’s just amazing what a little effort will do. I now have these terrific coaster mementos of my grandsons, Caden and Dylan, which will make great party decorations as well. I made them in about five minutes (of my time) using the new style of the month called “DIY Style”. If you think about “DIY Style” you can become very intimidated because it is totally blank. First you look at all that blankness and think, “maybe some other time” because it seems so overwhelming.

But then I had this idea: I opened my favorite photos of Caden and Dylan in Photoshop, adjusted the contrast so the image became black and white, and uploaded it to the coaster template online.

All that’s left after that is to wait for the coasters to arrive at your door (not long) and there you are.

This is the easiest style there is!

Most image editing programs allow you to adjust the contrast of a photo. Try adjusting it all the way to the maximum. If your software has a “posterize” or “threshold” adjustment you can try using those.

With Photoshop, you can convert your image to grayscale, then use the “levels” adjustment to fine-tune the contrast. You can add a bit of color back to the image by changing the color mode to “duotone”. Or for a more colorful look just go straight to the “posterize” adjustment.

If you don’t have access to any image editing software, you can also try using an online tool like these:black and white threshold effect or colorful posterize effect. You will still need some kind of desktop image program to open the image and save it. Double-click the revised image from the website to save it.

Experiment with different settings to get the look you want. Have fun!

Jeanne and her husband David launched My Own Labels in January of 2000. It was a spin-off of their successful graphic design firm, plus it allowed Jeanne to incorporate her love of baking, making, sewing and creating. Today David and Jeanne continue to be the heart of the operation both creatively and practically.